Issue 56 – Ultimate Reed Richards (Maker)

SHOW NOTES:

• Intro

  • Shoutout to Cheers to Comics – Brian Wayne talks all things comics

  • Listener Survey

• Background (04:00)

  • Ultimate Reed Richards created by Brian Michael Bendis, Mark Millar, and Adam Kubert in Ultimate Fantastic Four #1 (February 2004)

  • Based on an updated version of the Earth-616 Mister Fantastic

  • Reed Richards was a child genius recruited to the Baxter Building program with other brilliant young minds, including Ben Grimm, Sue Storm, and her brother Johnny

  • While attempting to teleport matter through the N-Zone, the experiment goes wrong and Reed gains the ability to stretch himself to incredible lengths

  • He and the rest of the Fantastic Four are heroes until the Ultimatum event, where Magneto’s attempt to destroy the world results in the deaths of dozens of heroes and villains, the Four disband, and Reed & Sue, who were romantically involved, break up

  • Reed believes the world is “broken”, and only he can fix it – he attempts to eliminate all the top scientific minds in the world, but is defeated by a team of heroes – his face gets burned by a blast from Johnny and he is trapped in the N-Zone

  • He escapes, and creates a group of genetically enhanced people called the Children of Tomorrow – now known as the Maker, they take over Europe until he is defeated by Sue

  • Secret Wars – Maker teams with 616 Reed to defeat God Emperor Doom, but Maker turns on Reed and is turned into pepperoni pizzas by the Molecule Man

  • Recovers and turns up in new Prime Earth – was in a cell until recently, when he was broken out by the Future Foundation, who was looking for 616 Reed

• Issues (14:40)

  • Villainy stems from broken heart – incel culture

  • Bullied as a child, both by fellow students and his father (26:42)

  • So focused on intelligence and intellectualism that he’s lost any semblance of humanity (36:20)

• Break (47:13)

  • Plugs for Talk Me Into and Occultae Veritatis

• Treatment (48:42)

  • In-universe

  • Out of universe

• Skit (57:57)

• Ending (62:17)
  • Next episodes – survivor guilt, Hawkeye (Fraction run), Roy Harper
  • Listener Survey
  • Discord
  • Appearance at New York Comic Con
  • Live appearance at Rogue Comics in Cranford, NJ in October

References:

• Matt Damon/Jimmy Kimmel – Anthony (0:55)
• Molecule Man episode – Anthony (11:35)
• Batman: The Killing Joke – Anthony (14:20)
• Incels – Anthony (15:30)
• Hamilton – “The Reynolds Pamphlet” – Doc (16:56)
• Tony Stark episode – Anthony (20:26)
• Michelle Carter – Anthony (30:35)
• Eeyore – Doc (34:28)
• Crossfire board game – Anthony (49:45)
• Pareto principle – Doc (57:45)

Apple Podcasts: here
Google Play: here
Stitcher: here
TuneIn: here
iHeartRadio: here
Spotify: here
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Discord
Listener Survey